In Sickness and in Health
by InfluxSoul
Summary: Post series, Munto finds himself in Yumemi's highschool. Between diplomatic meetings, culture shock, and the perils of highschool life, things can only get worse.
1. Chapter 1

The surface is not what he expects. It's loud, far louder than any other place he has ever been. It is crowded – the people pressed against each other, cramming into shops and streets. He thinks he might suffocate. He sees strange things, unfamiliar things. He sees curious people driving curious metal boxes, bobbing their heads to mechanical noise he can only guess is this country's version of music. He reminds himself he must not stop and stare at the oddities of human life, no matter how much he wishes to. He reminds himself that he is a King; he is here for a purpose. He cannot allow himself to be distracted – not by the curious sights and sounds and _smell _of the city, not by the tingle at the back of his neck that lets him know people are watching him. He hears snips of conversation though the din, hears snags of gossip and speculation and _why is he here?_ He hears people guessing, people thinking. Some think his ears are false, others think his hair is – it's too red, his ears too long and pointed. He wants to turn around, wants to tell them off, wants to stare right back and ask them a thousand questions.

He just pushes on. He has better things to do.

The meeting goes well, he thinks. There are strange lights and flashes and strange people in strange outfits ask him the questions he wishes he could ask them. His head is filled with half formed answers to yet unasked questions, his gaze flicking around the room from face to face. They are waiting for him to say something wrong, something they can use, that they can write a story from. He won't give it to them. He starts feeling light-headed by the end of it all, but he supposes that is to be expected. He sighs, smiles, and hopes he doesn't have to do this again, though he knows he will.

He needs to get out.

"Lord Munto, a moment if you will…" A woman and her camera crew runs up to him the second he reaches the window, interrupting his attempts at a premature exit. He turns to her, replacing his sigh with a calm smile. He must make a good impression.

"Yes, what is it?" At least she remembered his title.

"In regards to your attempts to promote cross-cultural understanding and relations, what is your next step?" She says a bit quickly, glancing at his ears, as if looking for a seam or imperfection or _something_ to tell her they weren't real. Why did everyone feel the need to do that?

"…I plan to begin attending a human school within the next three months in the hopes of not only cultivating a better understanding human culture, but human sciences and technology as well. I would like to introduce something of the sort into my Kingdom at a later date, if possible, which I've already explained. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

The movement was smooth, effortless. The window opened for him without hesitation, the night air soothing his building headache. He couldn't hold back the silent sigh that moved through him as he pushed himself up onto the edge, couldn't help the laugh that burst from his lungs as he heard the reporter scream.

"T-this is…. Lord Munto, the visiting king… He's jumped! I.. I've got no visual, but.. No, wait, what is that? Is it… Yes it is! My god, the rumours are true. Ladies and gentlemen, you're witnessing it here first – the Heavenly Beings are indeed capable of flight."

He slept heavily that night, unaware of anything besides the cool air and warm blankets surrounding him.

On the surface, hidden beneath her own covers, a green-eyed girl smiled to herself. He was coming.

* * *

A/N: First Munto fic~ Please inform me if you find any fault within this, be it character or plot. The next chapter is going to quite a bit longer, I think. Hopefully it'll go well. Also, please note that while the two worlds have been joined as one, akuto levels are lower on the surface, so while it is possible to go for a good few hours on the surface, anything beyond that is not exactly good for one's health. *EDITED 12/23/09*


	2. Chapter 2

He finds himself awake and aware sometime between the rising of the sun and the beginning of the day. He lies in bed, blinking up at the room around him, unwilling to disturb the covers cocooned around him. The preparations took days to finalise, his activities interrupted at every possible opportunity by the elders, by everyone in his counsel. They all said the same things, all drilled the same points into his head so hard and so frequently he could feel the warnings still swimming in the back of his mind. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, _hunger_ and unholy pain – he knew the signs well enough, he knew what it felt like to go without akuto. They didn't have to tell him, and yet, they did. He knew they had only the best intentions in mind, but he was not the child he once was. He is a King, not a fool.

He untangles himself, pushes himself, knowing that the day will go on with or without him to witness it. He must move.

The uniform is black and blue and slightly too short and too big and he doesn't like it one bit – it _clashes_ - but he supposes he must get used to it. He supposes if all else fails, he can just have it altered, but that would require time, effort, and knowledge of how to sew.

Or he could use magic.

He could feel people staring as he flew down, gawking at the calm manner in which he held himself, as if he flew around like this every day. Which he did, but that's beside the point. He allowed himself to stare right back for a bit before landing, trying not to notice the continued gazes as he walked along, resisting the urge to just fly to the school and save himself the walk. It would have been so easy to just jump away from the surface, away from the awkward looks and whispered words of the humans. It would have been so easy. Instead, he readjusts his uniform – it clings in all the right places, perfectly tailored to flatter his slim form without drawing unnecessary attention, but still his shirt rides up. This annoys him, but he can't magic it in place, not now. He had made a promise to himself that he would only use magic when absolutely necessary – transporting himself to and from school, eluding the press, saving small creatures from trees and so on. Anything else he would have to do the 'human' way, whatever that entailed. After all, he couldn't very well attempt to understand a people if he did not at least make an effort to live like them.

Yet, perhaps his efforts would prove unnecessary. From the small bits of Yumemi's memory that had made its way into his awareness, Humans and Heavenly beings didn't seem all that different at the end of the day. Seemed being the key word, of course. After all, she was human – goodness knows she knew more about them than he did. He could only hope that he actually did learn a thing or two from her memories, if only to reduce the inevitable culture shock.

Naturally, in a grand effort to prove all his early attempts at understanding completely wrong, the universe promptly introduced him to high school girls. In addition to the usual stares and hushed whispers, there were giggles, titters, and glances at places he was not entirely comfortable with. He wanted to walk away, wanted to pretend that he couldn't hear them, but it was too late.

"Hey, isn't that-" Lord Munto, King of the Magical Kingdom, pleased to meet your acquaintance.

"He's kinda-" Kind of what?

"That hair-" Was there was a problem with his hair?

"Do you think he-?" Did he what? Glue his ears on in the morning? That seemed to be a stunningly common theory.

"Probably, but…" Munto glanced behind him, pretending to be examining the grounds. Were they really gossiping about him? They were really gossiping about him. He had been witness to people actually gossiping about him. There was always gossip, sure, but really now. He was looking right at them.

"Those ears! Do you think they're fake too?" It was around this point that he realised that, yes, they were definitely talking about him. He still couldn't understand why they thought his ears were false, or what the problem with his hair was though.

"Na, can't be. The school wouldn't…" Wouldn't what? Allow his ears?

"The school _shouldn't_ in the first place…" It seemed almost like they thought he shouldn't even _be_ here. He might have almost been offended if he wasn't already used to it.

"But those eyes!" Okay, so that sounded more like a compliment than an insult. This was getting weird.

"Those legs!" Legs, he could deal with the leg thing. He liked his legs. They served him well.

"That butt!" Now, that was a bit awkward. He hardly had an arse in the first place. What were they so excited about?

"Those _eyebrows!_" Okay, now that just crossed a line. A thing for legs was understandable, as was having a thing for eyes, and even a thing for barely existing rears, that was true even in the Heavens, but eyebrows?

"How could they _not?!_" they ended together, sighing and clutching each other. Munto was left to stare openly at them, confused and slightly afraid before he remembered his manners and went back to getting away from them as quickly as possible. He could not grasp the concept of his eyebrows being attractive enough to warrant the screeching they now seemed to garner from the girls out front. Maybe it was just a human thing? Then again, Yumemi and her friends never seemed terribly enamoured with his eyebrows…. He supposed he had to be thankful for that, if this really did turn out to be a common thing amongst humans. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to deal with whatever the heck _that_ was from the girls for longer than a minute.

Yet, he supposed he wouldn't have minded so much if Yumemi was the one doing that. It would still be annoying after a while, but he didn't think he would end up walking away very, very quickly after two minutes. Huh.

Lost in his thoughts, it didn't take him long to find himself far out of hearing range of the girls. It only took him only a few seconds more to find himself standing awkwardly in front of the main office, waiting to be allowed in. This would be his first time in the building as a student instead of a monarch. He had passed the entrance exam as a monarch, had spoken to the principal as a monarch, chosen his courses as a monarch, and even set out some ground rules as a monarch. Today, he would enter that room not as Lord Munto, but as Munto the exchange student who just happened to live in a magical kingdom in the sky.

It felt a little bit odd, to say the least.

His thoughts drew to a close as the door opened, inviting him into the richly furnished room. He thought it clashed quite horribly with the rest of the school, but he decided to keep his mouth shut on the matter as he stood, not daring to sit down without the principal's consent. That was how it was done in his country - that was how he would act until informed otherwise.

"Ah, Lo-" The short man coughed, attempting to cover up the slight slip. "Munto-chan, how lovely to see you again. Please, have a seat." Now hold on, did that child of a principal just refer to him as Munto-chan? Not even Munto-san, but Munto-chan, as if he was something cute and innocent and… Munto had to remind himself to breath.

"Haninozuka-san." He nodded, sitting in the directed seat. It was quite plush.

"Tea?" The small man asked from behind his curled moustache, gesturing to a tacky statue of a man holding a tea set.

"No, I-" Heavenly beings couldn't exactly eat human food, not to his knowledge.

"Oh, but I insist." The blond chirped, waving at the statue to come over. "Takashi makes the most excellent Earl Grey, don't you Takashi?" The principal's voice jumped an octave, sounding more like a child's voice for a moment as he looked to his statue. Munto swore he saw small flowers radiating from the strange man. He was beginning to question the principal's sanity, if not his own.

The statue moved.

Now, there were several plausible outcomes at this point – the first involved Munto applauding the human's skill with robotics, the second involving taking the tea and pretending to not mind the alleged robot, the third involving screeching like a little girl and fleeing for his life.

He chose to instead to let out the most dignified squeak he could muster, take his tea, and try to let the heat of the cup calm him. He never did have the greatest experiences with machines larger than himself.

"Thank you, Takashi." The principal nodded his approval, allowing the robot to go back into its corner. "Now, then…" the small man said, turning back to the royal-turned-student. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well…."

They spent the next half hour talking, going over basic societal rules, norms, and taboos, what he needed to know on his first day, and the options available to him should he want to continue on after high school, and other subjects you of little significance.

It was only vaugely interesting.

As he left, Munto wondered if all authorities on the surface had robots. Principal Haninozuka just turned to his alleged robot, scratching at his curly moustache.

"Takashiiii, it itchesss. You be principal next time." the small man whined, pulling at the offending article until it detached itself from his face. The alleged robot just nodded, picking up the fluff of blond before moving to the back room.

"Takashi! Takashi, can I have the strawberry cake? Pleassee?"

"Aa."

* * *

A/N: Next chapter, things actually may start happening (maybe), so don't count me out just yet. Oh yes, that reminds me, how am I doing? Logic still sound? Character still good? *EDITED 12/31/09*


	3. Chapter 3

The room is strange. Windows on one side, doors framing an empty expanse of wall on the other, rows and rows of small desks facing a large black rectangle on the wall. He cannot see the halls, cannot see the people milling about outside, though he can hear muffled voices and footsteps just beyond the boundary. He can see the sky through the window; can see his kingdom floating above his head. It looks so small from here. Flashes of memory consume his vision unbidden at the sight, taunting voices filling his head -_ liar, liar. _He sees her sky though her eyes, through pink umbrellas and grasping hands.

He hears a door open. He's not sure if this is memory or reality. He feels someone beside him, a small hand on his arm. She knows what this is, and catches him as he stumbles, his vision suddenly clear. He finds himself tightly gripping her shoulders, emotions not his own lingering even after the memory faded.

"Yumemi…" The name slips from him before he realises what he's saying.

Green eyes blink up at him. They seem closer than before.

"Munto," she starts, frown pulling at her features.

"You've gotten taller." He pulls away from her, ignoring the feeling deep in his abdomen.

"But you're still the same." She says that like it's a good thing. He wonders if it is.

"Yume-" He hears feet against the floor, sees a shock of short brown hair. "It's you." He hears surprise in her voice, and a smaller set of feet running in the corridor.

"I'm not 'you'." He retorts automatically, grinning as Ichiko huffs, only to be interrupted by Suzume and her delighted cry of 'it's that red guy again'.

"Still 'Lord' though, huh?" He didn't mean it like that.

"Oh come on, I'm trying." He allows himself a slight smile, an undertone of laughter playing with his words. They may be _her _friends, and he may only really know them from _her _memories, but he knows them, and that is enough. He doesn't feel like he has to fake around them. "Good to see you again, Ichiko, Suzume." he pauses as he turns to Yumemi. She's standing close, a small smile on her face. He just smiles back at her as her name falls from his lips.

"So, what are you doing here anyways? I thought you had a Kingdom to run." What, the uniform didn't make it clear?

"Starting today, he's a student here." The voice comes from behind him, comes from a golden-eyed man leaning on the black rectangle. He's young – mid twenties at the oldest – but clearly anything but a student. He wears a white shirt and black pants, a blue bit of fabric hanging about his neck. Munto has seen a hundred bits of fabric just like it, but still can't fathom their use. He wonders what they are called. The girls jump slightly at the man's sudden appearance, stumble out the word 'teacher'. He assumes the bit of fabric around his neck in a status symbol, and greets the teacher with an even tone that is neither respectful nor dismissive. The man gives a careful greeting in return, introduces himself as Raven. He doesn't like his formal title. Munto silently agrees with him – he doesn't feel like a Mr. Nightray. Truthfully, he feels more like a useless person than a teacher, but he's not going to say that to his face.

Students start to flow in minutes later. Raven starts to shuffle around in a case, playing with papers and white sticks that leave marks on the black rectangle. People who know each other smile and gossip, but always take a moment to stop and stare at him. Even Raven couldn't resist, though his attentions were quickly diverted by a small blond boy. He tries to ignore them, attempts to chat with the girls and the mousey looking boy that hovers around Ichiko. He doesn't know which is more difficult.

The start of class is interesting, he must admit. He listens to Raven with upmost attention as he lists off students, explains the course requirements and goes about other pleasantries to fill up time. Around him, people are staring off into space, or shuffling through papers. They've heard this all before, one time or another. They know what a first day looks like. They are used to it.

They are not used to him. As the class dissolves, the whispers start up again. They are being fairly quiet about it, but they keep pulling back to the same few little topics over and over and over. Questions from a year ago pop up, topics covered on the news but never resolved to their satisfaction – questions about where, how and _why, why, why. _Some focus on politics, others on cosmetics, biology, anatomy, and everything and anything that pop into their heads. One girl even wonders if his kind has sexual organs, or if they just magic children into existence. He takes a special moment to just _stare_ at that girl. Yumemi giggles at the look on his face.

"They'll get over it." she assures him. He can only hope she is right.

The bell rings, the class disperses. He's the last out of the room, save to the teacher and the blond student. It's only then he notices how he towers over the other students. Most only come up to his chest, a precious few come close to chin level. He wonders if all humans are this short, or if it's a regional thing. He makes a note to check it out when he has the time.

Gym proves further investigation unnecessary. The teacher stands head and shoulders above the highest tips of Munto's hair. He has to pause when he comes into the room, amazed at seeing a man so tall and so firmly built after seeing nothing but people who sit around on their rears all day. He introduces himself as Mr. Suwa, does not bother with pleasantries, and makes them run a few laps despite them not having proper gym uniforms at the moment.

He is the exception. The rest of the day is filled with flamboyant teachers of questionable sanity wasting away the lesson on pointless exercises and basic brain teasers. He doesn't know how or why they got employed in the first place, but he supposes it's better them than more of the stiff private instructors that he had to deal with in his youth. At least they are entertaining.

At one point, there was an hour long break. It was… odd. Not knowing what to do, he roams around looking for something to do. He finds Yumemi. She and her friends were chatting, only stopping to eat and drink and invite him to do the same. He sits, and watches, and finds the aroma of food interesting, but he does not eat. He knows what it is to eat, he knows of heavenly beings that do eat, but to actually eat is something else entirely. It's just never really occurred to him what it would be like to have to eat in order to live, let alone eat regularly. Not many people in his kingdom take it upon themselves to actually eat solid food that the concept seems alien to him, something that only occurred in countries far outside his borders, something he had only ever seen and never did. He attempts to explain this to Suzume and Ichiko when they cast him peculiar looks at his apparent lack of appetite, but he's only met with confusion.

He never has been the best at explaining things.

The day ends with a final ring of the bell. He puts his indoor shoes away in a small cubby with his name on it thinking he did a good job of playing the role of student, despite still referring to himself as 'ore-sama', despite not being used to public education, despite not knowing what chalk or blackboards were until Yumemi explained them.

He thinks he could get used to this.

* * *

A/N: Finally! I'm sorry this took me a bit longer than usual. Hopefully it was worth it though, eh? Please, feel free to review. Oh yes, and chapter one and two have been edited, so if you haven't checked those out yet, please do.


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